Curtis Windom Execution

Windom was convicted of killing Johnnie Lee [CW's best friend], Valerie Davis [girlfriend/mother of CW's child] and Mary Lubin [mother of Davis] on Feb. 7, 1992. Court documents said Windom claimed that Lee owed him $2,000. After finding out that Lee had won $114 at a greyhound track, Windom bought a .38-caliber revolver and ammunition and shot Lee.

Curtis Windom murdered someone for trivial reasons (would seem better to keep him alive if all you got was $114!). He also murdered two more people. All had a close relationship with him. 

One article summarizes further:

On the 28th of August 2025, in just a few days, Florida is scheduled to execute Curtis Windom, a Black man who has spent 33 years on death row. He grew up in poverty, lives with intellectual disabilities, and has long shown signs of brain damage. His legal defence was riddled with failures. The Florida Supreme Court itself acknowledged that his lawyer chose not to present evidence of his mental illness or brain damage, for fear it might complicate the case. As a result, jurors never heard crucial mitigating evidence. And the jury that sentenced him to death did so by an 8 - 4 majority, a verdict that would not stand in most other states, or in the eyes of the US Supreme Court, which has said capital sentences should be unanimous.

My sentiments regarding executing people decades after the crime remain the same as Justice Breyer's. Ultimately, he deserved a long time in prison, and he had it. Thirty-plus years in prison.  

I don't think an 8-4 vote for execution is enough to provide a clear judgment that he warrants death. The other problems are a mixed bag. They do help my judgment that execution is not warranted here. 

The second article also notes that his daughter opposes the execution. A different article references, without clarification, that his lawyers obtained letters opposing the execution from the families of each victim. 

But there are many family members. Close family members of mine, for instance, don't have the same position on the death penalty. Do we do a poll? And there appears to be a split here as well. 

Ultimately, "what about the victims" only goes so far, in both directions. The execution is in the name of the people overall. It is not a punishment merely for the victim's family.   

The article discusses various recent legal challenges related to this execution. The process of choosing who to execute among those on death row is shrouded in secrecy. The governor has discretion.  

Florida is becoming the execution capital of the nation. This includes legislation making it easier to execute people. Also symbolic messaging:

The bill included language asserting that Kennedy v. Louisiana was ​“wrongly decided” and constituted “an egregious infringement of the states’ power to punish the most heinous of crimes.”  

I oppose executing those who committed crimes before they were eighteen. It is valid to voice opposition to Supreme Court opinions. 

There was an allegation by Justice Scalia and others that once the Supreme Court did something like ban the execution of those who raped children that it would be fixed in stone. Not so. 

Such opinions are partially based on the independent judgment of the Supreme Court. That can change. Also, state legislatures can pass resolutions that flag changing sentiments that can be relevant too.

Windom’s face was obscured by a sheet when the curtain was raised to the execution chamber shortly before a three-drug injection was administered. In his final moments, Windom said something about being on death row but it was not intelligible. Then, as the drugs began flowing, Windom started to take deep breaths. His legs twitched several times, and then he was still.

Anyway, the Supreme Court -- without comment from any justice -- rejected a final appeal. Florida executed him the next day.

More executions are due next month.